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D.C. Witness Staff
- November 16, 2020
Court
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Homicides
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Shooting
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A DC Superior Court judge continued a preliminary hearing for a defendant charged with first-degree murder while armed.
Nathaniel Bates is accused of fatally shooting 28 year-old Eddie Crist on May 8 on the 4000 block of South Capitol Terrace, SW.
Nov. 16 marked the first day of the preliminary hearing, which will ultimately determine if the case against the 36 year-old defendant has enough evidence to go to trial.
The lead Metropolitan Police Department (MPD) detective on the case testified that Bates initially said he was not at the crime scene. However, he was wearing a GPS monitor that placed him there.
The only people confirmed to be on the scene were Bates, Crist and a witness referred to as “witness one.”
During cross examination, defense attorney Pierce Suen asked the detective if there was any other evidence that Bates committed the crime other than his GPS putting him at the scene. The detective said “no.” However, he did say that the GPS was consistent with gunfire location technology.
The defense asked for the remaining Jencks material in the case. The prosecution has not reviewed all the Body Worn Camera (BWC) footage from the officers at the scene, which could possibly include Jencks material.
Judge Neal Kravitz decided to continue the hearing to allow time for the prosecution to review all the footage and hand over necessary material to the defense.
The preliminary hearing is set to resume on Nov. 18.